All About the Gosselins

Sweethearts

2012-02-13T23:59:00.000-08:00

The sweetest girls

Happy Valentine's Day from the little Gosselin girls...

Charlie decided he was too big to be on my Valentine cards again this year... sigh.

My 32nd Birthday Wish

2012-02-03T17:28:00.000-08:00

In 2010, on my birthday, I decided that my goal for 2011 would be
to cross off at least 5 things from my Bucket List...

~~Take a photography workshop~~ Accomplished Mar. of 2011
~~Go to Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah, GA~~ Accomplished May of 2011

~~Be in the audience of an Oprah Winfrey Show~~ Accomplished Oct. of 2011

~~Be on TV~~ Accomplished Apr. of 2011 (sToribook Weddings)

~~Go to the Pike Place Market in Seattle~~ Accomplished Jul. of 2011

~~Take a photo by Barbra's star on the Walk of Fame~~ Accomplished Nov. of 2011

~~Photograph a sunrise on the beach~~ Accomplished Jul. of 2011
~~Eat at Mr. Chow's~~ Accomplished Jan. of 2012

I had an amazing year and overshot my goal. I actually got to cross off 8 of them!

While I want to do that this year again, I saw a post on a blog I love

that inspired me to make a new goal for myself in my 32nd year.

In 2012, before my birthday in December, my wish is to complete

32 random acts of kindness.

Drew did her random acts of kindness in 2 days.

I want to really do it right and spend my entire year doing them.

__________________________________________________

My first random act of kindness wasn't even one I got to plan out.

It just kind of fell into my lap. I loved the moment because it taught my
boy something about helping others. About human decency.

We were going to dinner tonight and on our way in a nice, presumably homeless,
man asked us if we had any change we could spare.
Without a thought, I smiled at him and walked by.
You see, I was preoccupied with trying to keep my kids from
running into the street and getting hit by a car.

Eric was meeting us at the restaurant and when Kate saw him
walking towards us, she took off running. She tripped and fell flat on her face.
Hit her forehead on the cement. Hard.

The man kindly ran over and checked on us, asked if she was ok.
Asked if he could do anything to help her.

I felt guilty. In my own rush, I'd blown the guy off and even after that
he was thoughtful enough to care about my girl.

Charlie & I brought him some money and he was so grateful.
Charlie smiled at me and said maybe the man would be
able to eat a hot dinner tonight. He also said that he hoped the man
found somewhere to live soon so he wouldn't have to sleep in the cold.

1 down... 31 to go.

These 3 are the driving force behind this wish.
I want them to live in a kinder, more peaceful and loving world.
Where better to start than with them?

"The smallest act of kindness is worth

more than the grandest intention."

Oscar Wilde

Grace

2012-01-29T07:19:00.000-08:00

"Hello, sun in my face.

Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...

Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness."

-Mary Oliver

There's no better way to reintroduce myself to the blogging world
than with these beautiful words from Mary Oliver. Slowly getting back to that
place where I feel safe and loved enough to write my words
and throw them out there into the world is one of my new year's resolutions.

This year, my focus is love. It's kindness. Joy. Grace...

After the rough patch I hit towards the end of last year, the positive focus feels good.
It feels nice. Right.

I'm excited and happy to be "back", so to speak.
I've given myself a break and am not going to try to
fill in the 3 months of blogging that I missed.

I'm just going to start fresh...

So, let's catch up!

My babies have been growing like crazy.
It's a little bit scary to me how big they've gotten.

Since school started in September weve had a really hard time with Charlie in school.
He's a clown. Likes to make all the kids laugh.
That's cool with me usually. But when the teacher tells me it's going
to start affecting his learning if things dont change, it upsets me. A lot.
We went through a lot of different methods to try to change his behavior.

-Take things he loves away
-Rewards for good behavior
-Threats of changing schools

Nothing worked for months!
It threw me. I didn't know how to handle it.

We had a breathrough during winter break.
I changed our routine at home and created a poster board schedule.
He hates it (says so 3 times per day) but I think he secretly loves it.

I changed things in my life that were disruptive and I hadn't even been aware of it.
That just goes to show that even when you don't think they're noticing
or paying any attention, THEY ARE. They always are.
And when things aren't right with mama, everything's affected.
It's really made me aware of what I do, what I say, how I behave....

I opened a dialogue between my boy and me.

The change has been amazing. He's a new boy.
He's still the same big-hearted, sensitive and funny kid he always was.
The difference is he gets less frustrated and talks more to me.

We recently had a girls day. It was rainy and cozy.

The girls have been getting along really well. They play together...
Really girly things like tea party and "family"
...where Kate is the mommy and calls her daughter, Ella, "sweetie"...
which is funny to me because I don't think I have ever uttered the word sweetie.
They especially like to sing. One song right now, in particular.
"Love You Like a Love Song" by Selena Gomez
It really is the most adorable thing you've ever heard.

Ella loves Kate. A lot. You can see in her eyes that she looks up to her already.

This face makes anything better...

But of course Ella has to have her moment.

As a special treat, we let the girls paint a plate however they wanted to at Color Me Mine...
Kate adored this project. She shy-smiled her way through the entire experience.

Baby girl designed and drew the entire plate all by herself. Quite impressive, if you ask me.

She did everything so meticulously. Every color chosen with great care.

Miss Ella on the other hand, she has no regard for lines.
She paints her own picture. The picture J drew had very little bearing on where
she wanted to paint. I kind of like that about her.

The more paint she could pile on, the better.

They're very much excited to go pick it up on Monday.
We had to leave the plates there in order for them to bake in the kiln.

_________________________________

The little one's hair is ALWAYS in her eyes. Always.
It drives me nuts.
She doesn't even care. She doesn't even bother to brush it out of her eyes anymore.
She just kind of looks through her bangs at us.

I decided it was time for a change.

We woke her from a nap before the cut so she wanted nothing to do with it.
Wouldn't even sit in the firetruck chair.
I had to hold her on my lap for the entire cut.

I wasn't sure I liked it at first.
Change. We all know I hate change.

But the next morning when I was awaken by a very flustered Kate,
because Ella had painted all over the wall, the couch and herself...
I decided that her new haircut fit her mischievous personality PERFECTLY.

The kid's lucky she is so flippin' adorable. I wanted to kill her that morning!

It's really nice to be back.
I look forward to having this space to clear my head and connect again.
Happy Sunday, friends.

Whatever you do today, do it with grace.

A Big Day

2011-09-06T22:16:00.000-07:00

It was a big day today.

Today would be the first day that these gorgeous blue eyes would wake up

as a "big girl" as she likes to call herself. Her school career has now started

and there's no turning back. What a feeling that is!

Kate conquered her first day of pre-school and Charlie, he became a big 1st grader.

Kate was so ready for this. Although a little bit shy at first,

she didn't even think twice about us leaving her there for a full day of school.

I now get to spend 3 days a week with just my little Ella.

She's loving it, at least for now.

But I think she will miss having Kate and Charlie around pretty soon.

Why do they have to grow up so fast??

Better

2011-09-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

This summer has been a strange one for me.

Growth, heartache, joy, pain, change, love, pride, delight, hurt...

I've been overwhelmed by all of it and completely unable to find words to express myself.

I've been processing those feelings and trying really hard to actually feel them.
Slowly, deliberately, intensely.

The silence on my blog has been the result of all that.

The way the whole spectrum of emotion seemed to find it's

way into my life all at once caught me seriously off guard.

I couldn't think straight or write and I could barely even manage to pick up my camera
on a day to day basis and that is so out of character for me.

I was living my life like usual.

Just going through the motions, doing what I've always done, mindlessly and without conviction.

Living that way wasn't how I wanted my life to be.

I expected more from myself than that and I didn't even know it.

I'm slowly working my way out of it...
Getting better every day, working my way towards a better, healthier, more fulfilling me.

"I haven't a clue how my story

will end, but that's all right.

When you set out on a journey

and night covers the road, that's

when you discover the stars."

- Nancy Willard

Alive & Well

2011-08-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot how to do this.

It's been a month and I've got so much to say

and so much to share.

The problem is, I've got writer's block. Bad. I'm stuck.

I'm working through it, looking for inspiration and

trying to enjoy my life along the way.

I'll be back soon, friends.

Lots of good things coming...

Sweet Little Friends

2011-08-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

Kate invited one of her friends for a sleepover and for an entire week, she was so excited.

It's all she could talk about.

The day didn't disappoint.

The girls had a blast and it was so fun watching them together.

I had to be told a couple of times to back off because it

was so interesting to me, watching how they interact and

hearing the things that they say to each other.

I like watching the confidence come out of my girl

as she forms relationships and her personality shines through.

It was a great day...

Lunch, nails, shopping and ice cream...all topped off with a sleepover.

Pike Place Market

2011-07-29T23:08:00.000-07:00

Another phone call to daddy. He lights up her world.

I am a coffee lover. That's no secret.

We got to see the very first Starbucks ever opened.

We did totally touristy thing a took a Duck Tour.

The Seattle Skyline

The sky was electric.

This plane took off from the water, not too far from us.

The house from Sleepless in Seattle

This dude... funniest guy ever. I love a guy with a great sense of humor.

He totally made the entire tour.

Dancing

You can't come to Seattle and not take a ferry boat. So we did.

They were glad to stretch their legs after a 30 minute boat ride.

Burning some energy on Bainbridge at the park...

And that was Seattle. We left early, early the next morning to make the

LOOOONG trip back home.

We stayed the night in San Francisco, which is about 15 hours from Seattle.

Seattle and the Space Needle

2011-07-27T16:00:00.000-07:00

The last thing we did in Portland was have breakfast at

a really chic and stylish restaurant called Mother's Bistro & Bar...

My blue-eyed girls...

Seattle is about 3 hours away from Portland.

Thank goodness the kids were tired and slept for most of the drive.

It was a gorgeous day.

I had one hope for when I was in Seattle.

I wanted it to rain.

As we entered the city, this is what the sky looked like.

I thought I just might get my wish.

After we got settled into the hotel, our first order of business was

to go visit the very first Nordstrom. The flagship store.

I love Nordstrom.

I would say that is my favorite place to shop. (With Forever 21 as a close second)

It's kind of like Disneyland in the sense that their quality, customer service and just overall

care for their customers goes above and beyond expectations. Its a pleasant and rich place to shop.

After going to Nordstrom, no other store ever quite lives up to it.

From there, we took the monorail through the city and made it to the Space Needle just in

time for the sun to go down... and a really great dinner. The scenery was breath taking.

The kids loved the monorail. No seat belts or car seats? I don't blame them!

The Space Needle

It's a little high for my taste but dinner reservations at the very top

and another life experience for the kids motivated me to go.

The view from the restaurant...

Portland, OR

2011-07-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

These 3 are seasoned travelers by now. They know the agony and joy

that is a 15 hour road trip. They are quite familiar with driving for hours on end,

finding new things to "I spy" when all there is to spy is blackness outside at 1am...

They gasp along with us at the gorgeousness of the turquoise lake and the

snow capped mountains in the middle of summer.

There is crying, don't get me wrong. Charlie tested our patience beyond words.

My little home-body doesn't like to stray far

from the familiar in his life: his bike, his home, his friends and most importantly, his daddy.

He made sure to let us know of that every chance he got.

Oregon was gorgeous. The sky was a different kind of blue.

The trees were vibrant and lush...very green.

These 3. When they get along, it's such a beautiful thing.

Powell's Book Store.

Lunch at Gruner
Best burger EVER. Wild mushroom and nuts... so good.

This is where my baby girl, Kate's chubby, dimpled, little fingers first learned how to write her name.
Isn't that the most beautiful K you 've ever seen?

Washington Park

VooDoo Doughtnuts

Bacon maple donut... interesting combo.
I didn't try this one but Jaclyne says it wasn't that bad.

Portland has a very slow-paced life.
It reminded me of the south a little bit.
It has that same charm and beauty.

I'm thrilled the kids got to visit this beautiful state...
We left Portland and made our way to Seattle, WA,
whose beauty surpassed my expectations.
I truly am a city girl at heart.

Stay tuned... more from our summer vacation coming soon.

Sunrise

2011-07-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

"With every rising of the sun,

think of our life as just begun."

- Unknown

I still haven't slept yet tonight.

Without a second thought, I got in my car and I drove. It's extremely rare that I
find myself without babies or someone to be responsible for.
But tonight I had that small luxury.
And I took advantage of it.

Its hard to sleep when I have a lot on my mind. I can't shut off my head. I can't even tune it out.
So, I drove instead of laying there in bed listening to my husband breathe his slow, repetitive breaths.
I envy how he can fall asleep so quickly and sleep so soundly.

Often as a teenager with a car of my own, a full tank of gas and nothing else to lose,
I'd sneak quietly out of my house late into the night and drive.
Most often, I'd find myself turning onto PCH and automatically turn the radio as loud as it went.
Loud enough to drown out my thoughts.

I'd put the windows down and just...drive.
Right about the time I hit Seal Beach Blvd. I could feel my body start to relax.
The air started to smell sweet and salty and turn cool and damp.
I'd go fast and (totally not a proud moment) I'd smoke a cigarette.
For some reason those things all put together calmed me. I felt connected.
Why? I couldn't even tell you.

There's a certain place in Huntington Beach as you're driving Pacific Coast Highway,
where to your right, you don't just see the side of the road anymore but
instead the road brings you up just enough and you get that first glimpse of the ocean.
It's so amazing.

I did that tonight. It felt freeing.
I hadn't done it in a really, really long time.

When I woke up this morning, the last thing I would've guessed I'd be doing at
4 am is retracing the steps I'd taken so many times before in my youth
and sitting on the beach, camera and coffee in hand and my feet dug into the sand.

I didn't just go for the drive though.
I had a life list item to check off.

Photograph a sunrise on the beach.

As the sky started changing from black to dark purple to royal blue to beautiful shade of gray...
I let my tears fall and I didn't even know why they came but they did. And I let them.

I don't really know what I was expecting out of this experience. Maybe a golden burst of sunshine to come slowly out of the ocean. Maybe fireworks. Maybe I expected perfection. I often have
very high expectations in my head and I romanticize almost everything.
I had a vision of how this morning would go.
It did, in fact, involve those golden bursts of sun coming out of the ocean.

Let me tell you what I actually got though.

I googled the sunrise time and it said 5:54 am.

I had time to kill so I sat for an hour watching the water and the beach goers slowly start trickling in.

First came the strange people and their metal detectors.

Then, there were the young lovers who made themselves comfortable on the lifeguard tower.
I imagined they hadn't slept all night either and they were sitting in each other's
arms talking about their dreams and their futures.
I loved watching them...

Then came the surfers.

Finally, it was almost time...
but no sun came. The sky just got lighter and lighter.
That's when I realized that the sun sets in the ocean here.
I laughed at myself because I felt so silly. I laughed so hard I felt delirious.

I didn't get up and rush out to the car to drive home even though I was so tired my eyes burned.
I walked along the water and I felt like things might just be OK.
Things just might work themselves out.
I felt like my worry or my stress wouldn't change
anything and that I should just enjoy what I have now.

On the drive home, I saw the sun... it made me smile.

Maybe I should change that life list item to SUNSET on the beach...

Regardless...I crossed one more off.

Tooth Fairy

2011-07-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

I added a new job description to my resume this morning...

it sits nicely among the ranks of Boo boo kisser and Hair braider.

and I rocked it!

His tooth wasn't loose for very long. At least not that he let on.

He kept wiggling it all around all day long but was so afraid of pulling it out.

It really stressed him out, the poor little guy, even though he's been

waiting on this day since he turned 5 years old.

When it finally came out his face was priceless...

I stayed up late writing Charlie a note from the tooth fairy...

There was even fairy dust and fairy footprints involved.

He was a happy boy that morning when he woke up...

He couldn't believe he saw fairy footprints on his window sill.

He even told me I had to tell his friends because they wouldn't believe him.

It was sweet.

I hope he always has such an open heart and amazing imagination.

_______________________________________

He's growing up too fast.

It makes me so sad...

Our Littles

2011-07-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

Cherie has been in our lives since we were little girls.

First as a pen pals, since she lived in Canada and then when

she moved here to California, she and I were instant best friends

through our teen years and well into adulthood. Even now,

although she lives in NC, I still consider her one of my best.

I was THRILLED when I learned that she and I were both pregnant

with boys. She was due June 9th and I was due around the same time.

Dylan, Julianne and Charlie have been "betrothed"

as friends since long before they were even born.

Every time we get them all together we are vigilant in

taking their portraits, this time was no exception...

Infants

1 year olds

and our most recent...
6 year olds

We truly are blessed...

Fractured

2011-07-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

We've been at the Dr.'s offices quite a few times this week...

Some visits were pleasant...
Well-child visits where you get peace of mind and an all clear from the Dr.

Miss Ella is 23 pounds...33 1/2 inches tall

Poor girl got a vaccine today. I use a delayed schedule to vaccinate my kids.

I often get half-joking eye rolls from my Dr. when I ask for information sheets

about what vaccines Ella needs so that I can choose which one she will get that day.

I don't think that we should give them all the vaccines they're supposed to get all at once.

It's too much for these kids' systems. What's the difference if they get one at a time

over a longer period of time? At least in the end she will have all the vaccines

they recommend, but on a schedule I'm comfortable with.

She hadn't had one in 6 months so I decided to give her the MMR,

a year late but at least she finally got it..

So far, no reactions. That's the one that scares me most, the MMR.

I hear everywhere that the connection between autism and vaccines has been

disproven by scientists, but I also strongly believe that a mother's intuition

and millions of parents who insist otherwise cannot be all wrong.

So, I'm cautious.

and then there were the not so pleasant ones...

We've officially got the first cast in the family.
Charlie jumped off the couch and somehow hit his arm on our tv.
All day long he was careful with his arm and complained a few times about it but
he could still move it so I thought it wasn't broken.

He cried all through the night in his sleep so I knew something was up.
I brought him in.

Turns out, he fractured his elbow.

He had just said, "Really, Ma? Pictures right now???

Talking to the Dr.

I feel bad for my little guy.
He's a fierce lover of bike-riding. Catch. Playing basketball. Swimming.
These are all things he won't be able to do for at least a couple of weeks.

It sucks that it's summertime and he feels left out.
Of course, it becomes MY fault because I'm the evil parent who wont let him
participate in his loves. It's all right with me, though. I need to make sure he doesn't
injure his elbow more so if he has to not like me for a little while, I'll take it.

But that doesn't mean when he requested chocolate milk and whipped cream in his cheerios
instead of regular milk this morning, I said no. Cheerios and chocolate milk it is.
He's going to milk this one for all he can.

It's going to be a long week...

This Face

2011-07-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

I love her.

That's all...

The Fourth

2011-07-04T01:21:00.000-07:00

Celebrating our country's birthday is always a proud moment for me.

Seeing the kid's happy, smiling faces makes it even better.

Happy birthday, America.

Saturday Night

2011-07-03T23:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday night found us on the marina, enjoying dinner and a stroll with our Jackie.

The best rice EVER.

He made a Mickey out of the rice for our Disney babies.

It was a beautiful night.

Jackie and the Little Gosselins

2011-07-01T01:11:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted a guest blogger. I see it all over the place and think it's fun to get someone else's
perspective... plus, it gives me a break from blogging for once!

Today my guest blogger is my BFF Jaclyne...
While Eric and I were off for the weekend, she kept the kids and documented their adventure:

__________________________

I love my little Gosselins. They make my life brighter and truly, they are like my own. Although I am just guest blogging on this ONE day, I have to say, I have them quite often and enjoy their company. They are three of the coolest people I know, true story.

We spent one Saturday at a book fair on the USC Campus. Yes, hindsight is 20/20 and taking three babies, by myself to a huge college campus during a book fair was a little nuts.

There was some pouting, crying and moments of despair, but it

didn't overshadow the day and we had fun.

Forgive me, for I am not the photographer in this friendship.

I did my best trying to handle the camera, push the limo and keep

track of three little kids who wanted to run around amongst the crowds.

And this is how you roll when you have three kids under 5.... I call it the limo.

Our first stop, per the kids' request was the Ben and Jerry ice cream stand...

Prior to this, we experienced a melt down over seating and the fact I couldn't tie
Kate's bracelet on just right... As expected, their blood sugar level was low.

They LOVED the ice cream and ate every last bite.

And then we were off to the kid's area, Target had a
huge stage setup with authors and live performances.

We made a quick stop at the Medieval Times booth for free crowns, which the babies proudly sported all day. Little Ella loved the ice cream and had two cups to herself!!

Mr. Charlie is obsessed with the Wimpy Kid's book series, which is quite comical because he has never even read one book. Nevertheless, I obliged and bought him another Wimpy Kid book and he was SO proud of his Wimpy Kid button.

My little Kate wanted two books, so she chose Bambi and Silverlicious.

How can I say no to that face???

The babies actually sat in The Target red lounge and read their books. I had to coax them into leaving because they were quite content where they were. It was a proud moment for this book lover!!

Miss Ella was everywhere, reading every book she could get her chubby little fingers on. She chose an Olivia book to buy, which was selected by her big sister Kate. However, Ella LOVED
and it kept her busy for the loooooong walk to our car.

It was hot and sunny, but they behaved so well. Sibling Love!

As we were leaving the USC campus, we came across this magnificent tree. I have never seen anything like it in my life. And the kids were all over it. They were mesmerized by the trunk and the hanging tree branches, but most of all by it's size!!!

Words cannot truly express how much I really love these babies.
They are little rays of sunshine and I am blessed to be part of their lives...

xoxo,

Jaclyne

Magical...

2011-06-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

On Ella's actual birthday we couldn't let the day go by without acknowledging

it as hers, even though we'd already had a party.

She is really into the Disney princesses just like Kate was at her age, so Ariel's Grotto

seemed a fitting place to go. Judging from her reactions and facial expressions,

she was was a happy little girl.

"Sisters!"

From anywhere in my house, if I say this in a sing-song voice

you can just wait to hear the giggles and the pitter patter of little

feet as they run from where they are to find each other and

crash into a sister hug.

Really it's just... magical.

For all the moments they don't get along (and trust me, there are a lot)

these moments make it all worthwhile.

An intimate family dinner at the end of the pier followed

a relaxing day at Disneyland and then

the release of the lanterns when the sun finally set was

one of the coolest and most special ways to end our day.

The little guy trying to wink at me...

Keeping with the Tangled theme, I found the lanterns that they release

every year on Rapunzel's birthday online and bought some.

I thought it would be fun for the kids to see it in real life.

I attached a little note to each lantern that said:

These things were HUGE! We were expecting tiny little lanterns, but these were bigger than we were!

It took us a few tries to get it right, a few of them ended up in the ocean but when they

took off.... it was beautiful. I got chills just like I do whenever I see that part in the Tangled movie.

We attracted a little crowd of onlookers who were fascinated by our little show.

A late night dip in the ocean made the night for the kids. They had a blast!

I get a lot of flack for how much birthdays are celebrated in my home.

They tend to last a week, mine has been known to be celebrated for an entire month...

But it's just such a wonderful thing, to have survived another year.

To be another year wiser, another year of growing.

If anything should be celebrated excessively in life, it's that.

And celebrate, we did.

Down to the last drop...

My wish for Ella as the lanterns rose to the heavens was this:

I wish you happiness, my sweet girl, in whatever form it finds you.

I wish that you always feel loved and cherished and that you love in return.

I wish you everything good in this world.

That's my wish for you.

Thankful...

2011-06-30T23:29:00.000-07:00

...for the chance to celebrate my baby's 2nd year of life and seeing her enjoy her day and her party decor made of brown paper and paints that she loves so much.

...for the fond memories I get sitting under the pavilion in the very same pool I learned to swim in, watching my own babies learn to swim.

...for a husband who loves me even when I drive him absolutely crazy for with my flaws and for being such an amazing daddy to 3 little souls who adore him.

french toast and homemade cards for Father's Day.

...for this face and its clear, undeniable love for life and adventure.

...for my morning coffee with just the right amount of sweet cream and catching up on old Oprah shows that I've been saving to watch. I miss her already.

...for my person. Who fulfills me, drives me crazy, makes me smile, loves my babies like they're hers, and picks up the slack for me when I can't. She's deeply appreciated.

...for still being able to fit in my wedding dress after 11 years and participating in a wedding dress fashion show at a bridal shower the other night.

...for connecting with a new friend who feels like a forever friend, sharing little bits of laughter, craziness and smiles over dinner and a movie with my crazy kids.

Sometimes, taking the time to appreciate the things that you have

makes the fact that there are things you don't have much more bearable.

Perspective. It's a beautiful thing.

Photography Challenge

2011-06-30T01:58:00.000-07:00

There's always room for improvement, right?

I found this online and decided that it would be my project for the month of June.

It sounds fun and any time I am behind that camera
and learning from the experience makes me happy.

I'll post the photos here in weekly posts...

Ella Grace Turns 2...

2011-06-26T23:42:00.000-07:00

Sweet Ella.

I loved you yesterday.

I love you still.

I always have and I always will...

To celebrate our littlest's 2nd year, we had a little Tangled party since it's her absolute favorite movie.

Blurry but she loved the decor. She danced around like a ballerina.

All of Jaclyne's heart and soul and love gets poured into every single one of my kids parties.

I don't take for granted at all the blessing she is in their lives.

A little after party lounging for the little girls...

The second half of her birthday celebration is soon to follow...

Sweet Cherry

2011-06-23T22:43:00.000-07:00

In a quiet, little town, tucked sweetly between the hills

an hour past Los Angeles, you'll find Leona Valley.

Home to Amber's Cherry Farm.

It took us forever to finally settle on a day when
everyone was available to go and things had to be moved
around and rescheduled, but my mom REALLY
wanted to do this so I made it happen.

I'm glad I did.

Sure, it was an hour and a half away.
But this is what I love to do. The driving doesn't bother me so much.
I love to get out there, take the kids out of the house. EXPERIENCE.

At 8am when my phone started yelling at me to wake up
(or the alarm rang, same difference),
the thought crossed my mind to fake an illness and snuggle deeper into
my sleep number bed, set nice and comfortably at 52, where
it's the perfect ratio that marries firmness and sleeping on clouds rather nicely.
See, I still hate mornings. I do my best work at night.

But cherries were calling my name and I knew the kids would love it.

A little Bob Marley and a few sprinkled cake donuts later, I had some
excited, sugared up babies ready to get off the winding roads and out into the cherry trees.

My beautiful, beautiful mom...
She looks forever young here.

She was happy and that made me happy.

Now, I have 5 pounds of red cherries at home and I ate so many
while we were picking them that the thought of eating another cherry
has me a little bit nauseous.

Eric wants a cherry pie so off to the Food Network I go to research cherry recipes...

Ella's 2nd birthday is coming up and I'm really excited about our plans for it!!!

Have a sweet Wednesday friends!

1st Grade, Here We Come!!

2011-06-22T23:15:00.000-07:00

School is out and summer's officially here.

We had the honor of being able to go to a ceremony

that celebrates one of our favorite little people ever...

Our boy Charlie.

He was awarded a certificate from each of his teachers.

One from Mrs. Cano for his awesome, happy spirit and quick wit.

(A nice way to say he's a smart ass... ;)

and the other from Mlle Gabrielle for his sense of humor.

We're so incredibly proud of our boy.

He's really eager for the first grade because he wants to read books really badly.

But he's equally devastated that he won't be in kindergarten anymore.

He cried so hard on the last day of school that I cried with him.

It was horribly sad.

He's like me, my boy. He doesn't like change and when something's good,

he wants it to stay that way forever.

Congratulations, Baby!

You'll go very far in life, I can promise you that.

The Paint Bandit

2011-06-21T14:15:00.000-07:00

Someone woke up earlier than her momma and decided to use my

paints for the Tangled paintings as make up and hair dye.

That's what I get for leaving my painting supplies out.

and she said to me all excitedly, "Puprise!"

Baby girl thought she was so beautiful.

I thought so too...

Tiny Dancer

2011-06-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

The Recital

Kate wanted to pass out photos to her friends of her ballet costume

so she got all dolled up a few weeks ago and we had a mini photo shoot.

The anticipation and counting down the days to the recital with Kate
was almost as fun as actually watching her up there.
Preparing her for what might happen and hearing all the "what if" questions
her amazing little mind could come up with melted my heart.

Dressing her that day, just her and me, in her bedroom where she kept smoothing out
her tights, and smiling at herself in the mirror and then running her chubby, little fingers
along the ruffles of her costume and bouncing around excitedly when
she thought I wasn't looking, was definitely a very emotional moment for me.

I could just imagine this to be
a preview to her wedding day and tears well up.

My girl, she plied and curtsied with the best of them.
She was shy and proud.

She's the shortest one there, the first little girl.

Kate and her little ballet friends... she loves these girls!

Miss Jessica is amazing with Kate and puts her right at ease.
I credit her with a lot of Kate's confidence.

I've been listening to Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" and

Lionel Richie's "Ballerina Girl" on repeat for a couple of days now.

I know... you don't have to say it, I know.

What can I say? I'm the sentimental type.

I'm so proud of my girl.

Summer Reading List

2011-06-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

Source

Little Bee - Chris Cleave (Finished)

The Help - Kathryn Stockett (Finished)

Heat Wave - Nancy Thayer

Bossypants - Tina Fey

The Interruption of Everything - Terry McMillan

The Last Girls - Lee Smith

Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James

Then Came You - Jennifer Weiner

Getting to Happy- Terry McMillan

Summer House - Nancy Thayer

Read along with me... let me know what books are on your list! I love suggestions from my friends...

Aren't you glad summer's almost here? I am.

Friends & Coming Home

2011-05-31T23:36:00.000-07:00

How can I not start with this when documenting this part of our trip...?

We were so spoiled when it came to meals.

Gourmet breakfasts and Mediterranean dinners.

Dit blew me away with his skills in the kitchen.

Poune's AMAZING french toast...
and that was homemade whipped cream to boot!

I didn't even think to get photos of the other things

but man, let me just say, a guy who cooks? He's a keeper!

It was so nice to see my friends. We have pretty much known each other our whole lives.

We have been part of nearly all pivotal moments in each others' lives up until we all got married.

Sitting on the couch those late nights talking like we hadn't been apart for almost 10 years

was very refreshing. It felt good seeing the connection hadn't gone away.

The beautiful Anabelle.
Such a sweet, adorable baby.

Kate meets Dean

He calls her Cake. Its the sweetest thing ever.

Dit built the kids a cardboard house that they all loved to pile into. All 5 kids at a time.

Downtown Apex

I LOVED my hat... or should I say the word I just learned? Fascinator. I loved my fascinator

*****
Marbles Museum

The babies all fell asleep while we stayed up late talking into the morning...

We had a relaxing, fun time with Dit and Pou and all the NC folks.

Thank you so much Poune for being such a gracious southern hostess.

It was amazing to see you and the kids and we really need to do it more often.

Like we were, I want our kids to be close friends too.

***

The long trip back home.

If it could go wrong, it did, on the way to the airport for our flight(s) home.

Ella threw up all over herself, there was dead stop traffic on the highway,

we had to turn in our rental car and ...you don't even want to know the rest.

Suffice it to say that we made our flight to Chicago. Barely, but we made it.

Jaclyne was brilliant and bought an iPad in NC so that the girls

could have something to watch and keep them busy on the long flights.

It worked wonders.

Our first layover was in Chicago for 4 hours.

Lunch at Macaroni Grill and running in the playground kept the girls busy.

We got to visit the famous Garrett's Popcorn that we've heard Oprah rave about so many times.

It was good. Really good.

Thank god there was a playground in the O'hare to help the girls

run out some of their energy during the 4 hour layover.

My well-seasoned travelers

Next layover, Seattle. 2 hours.

This was a gorgeous airport. An entire wall of windows.

Ella was fascinated by the planes taking off.

Going home is always bittersweet. I love being away. I love to see different places.

Crossing off places and things off of my life list makes my heart happy.

But coming home to this beautiful face, who hasn't left my side for a second since I got home?

It makes me never want to leave again.

He said when I leave he feels like this...

We had a fabulous trip and I'm so glad I went.

I'm so glad to have a friend who never tires of me and vice versa.

Speaking of friends, I'm so grateful I got to see my old friends,

for my babies to have made some new friends.

That's what life is all about, isn't it?

Road Trip...

2011-05-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

The morning we left Savannah was overcast. A storm was on its way.
I was glad the sky waited until we left to cry its tears.

The view from our hotel room

2 more things to cross off our list of to-do's and we would be on our way to NC.

-Wileys BBQ
-Tybee Island

When our GPS led us into a tiny strip mall in the outskirts of Savannah, I thought it had lost its damn mind.
The best BBQ around and it was in a strip mall??

Photo from Wiley's site
She'll do just about anything for good food so in we went to put our names on the waiting list.

Fried pickles... not bad.

We stopped at the Crab Shack but having just eaten at Wiley's we were too stuffed to
try the famous crab. J was disappointed...
But the girls did get to see alligators and feed them. They LOVED it!

Between trying to hook the food on the hooks (J - not me...I don't touch weird food)
and making sure the girls didn't whip anyone in the face with their ropes and then making sure that
they didn't just throw the sticks in the water or Ella somehow climbing in to the cage,
I was anxious to leave that place.
The girls, however, were not.

The gorgeous beach...
there was thunder and lightning, and as everyone was leaving the beach, we were heading toward the ocean.
I wanted the girls to put their feet in the Atlantic ocean...

Poor Ella was trying to run from a wave and she fell!

I love this photo...

After the beach...on the road again.

Bye Georgia... you were my favorite state!

The drive was LONG for the girls, aw hell, I'll admit, it was long for me too!
Especially since Jaclyne wouldn't stop to let us eat or pee until we entered the state of NC...

LOTS of green

We finally made is safely to Poune and Dit's house and
the kiddos were all still up waiting for our arrival.
They were such nice, sweet kids. Very kind.

Poor Anabelle didn't know what was about to hit her...

So tired... must sleep.

Hello from North Carolina

2011-05-27T23:04:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd have much more time to sit down and blog at the end of each day

of my vacation... We've been doing so much that at the end of the day, I just crash.

Blogging will have to wait until my return because right now I'm enjoying my sweet girls,

my friends and meeting one of my BFFs baby girl and getting to know her boys better.

I'll leave you with this as I sign off to go referee 2 little feisty 1 year olds...

Savannah, GA

2011-05-26T23:54:00.000-07:00

I was sad that our 2 days in Charleston had gone by so quickly but
satisfied that we'd done all we wanted to do off of our scribbled list on hotel
paper that we always make on vacations...
When a day starts out waking up to this... you know that it will be a good one.

In keeping with tradition of finding good, local cuisine, J found this little gem and

we ate breakfast/ lunch here on our way out of SC to Savannah...

Hominy Grill

Boiled peanuts and fried green tomatoes...both worth trying, at least once.

J had Shrimp and Grits and I... an eggplant sandwich that only

confirmed the fact that I HATE eggplant and that I loved sweet potato fried.

It's a tiny, little restaurant that has at least a 30 minute wait outside in the scorching sun

with little shade or seating. But people wait nonetheless...

This face just melts my heart. She is heaven sent, that baby.

Our final stop in South Carolina was the Boone Hall Plantation.

This plantation was one of the movie locations for the film "The Notebook"...

I adored that movie and can't wait to watch it, along with a few others that have

been filmed in the places we visited, like Forrest Gump and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

This view, this breath-taking... gorgeous scene makes it worth going to the South all by itself.

The old Oaks... the Spanish moss that I learned is a symbol of the old South...

I could just stand there and look at it for days.

On the tour inside the Boone house.

Definitely the highlight of Ella's trip was visiting the butterfly house on the plantation...

or Boofly, as she says so adorably.

It's basically a netted area filled with plants, flowers and butterflies.

She ran around that place like she owned it, pointing out every insect she saw.

She kept sneaking off on us this little one! Climbing to the old cotton house...

After a quick ice cream stop we were off to Savannah.

I wasn't the best co-pilot. I admit, I slept almost the entire way from SC to GA...

The girls kept themselves busy with baby wipes. They're low maintenance, huh?

I loved our hotel in Savannah, the Avia. Although no one got to eat any of them

because Kate snatched them both up on both nights, I love when a hotel

leaves little treats on your pillow at turn-down.

It just makes you feel special and gives you that extra reason to use the same hotel next time you stay.

That's why I love the Omni Hotel so much.

Too bad they didn't have locations where we were visiting this time.

Savannah was just perfect. The mugginess that weighed me down in Charleston

turned to breezy and cool weather in Georgia.

I fell in love with the squares and the fountains, the rich history and pride of it all.

Kate never lets me comb her hair anymore. I've been in hair bow withdrawal.

Thankfully, to my delight, she decided that her new love is side ponytails.

And my girl rocks them.

She has all the right amounts of sass and confidence to pull off the side ponytail

and you can tell she feels pretty and "cute", as she calls it, when her hair's combed this way.

I don't know how I feel about that since I try to tell her as often as I can that she is

beautiful even when she's covered in mud and wearing a pull-up that's hangin' down to her knees.

I don't want her too preoccupied with her looks.
I want her to know that there's more to life than pretty. Like smart, funny, KIND, generous, loving...

Our first official order of business in Savannah was to set our names on the list at Lady & Sons, Paula Deen's restaurant. I'm a long-time fan of the food network and among the few I love, is Paula.
She is just a jolly, joyous sweet woman with a happiness that's contagious.
At least from what I can see from her on the TV. Her restaurant is beautiful.
I really loved the old brick buildings everywhere.

There was a short wait so we took a walk around a few of the city's famous 24 squares.

The food was great. When you sit down they give you cornmeal pancakes and syrup
along with a cheesy, gooey biscuit that makes it worth going there all in itself.

The Lady & Sons

River Street was sparkly on the water on that beautiful, sunny day.

- River Street Sweets
We bought Eric some pralines here knowing that he'd love them.
Unfortunately for him, we ate them all before they made it home to him... haha

Since J was reading Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil,
we had a lot on our list to do that came from things straight out of the book.
This Bird Girl Statue was one of the must-sees. We weaved our way through the underbelly of
the museum because we had the girls in a stroller and worked our way up to the floor where she was.
Just as I've got my camera pointed and I'm about to take J's photo with the famous statue
a security came running out yelling NO. So no picture. At least I got a photo of the banner.

The Olde Pink House

This restaurant was just ok...

Inside the Pink House after our lunch. Kate was NOT happy.

We chose to take a guided trolley tour of Savannah and then walk to the places that interested us most.

This pub is from a scene in Something to Talk About with Julia Roberts

Chippewa Square is where the famous scene in Forrest Gump was filmed. Where he says the quote
about "Life is like a box of chocolates..."
Here's J in the square alongside a screenshot from the movie.
The bench isn't there anymore, it's in a museum.

Forsyth Park
We let the girls burn off some energy in the playground at Forsyth Park.

Kate was happy as a clam walking around, collecting some 'lovely leafs" as she kept calling them.
I still have all her leaves tucked into a paper sack.

Leopold's
We then headed to get the girls some ice cream.
Leopold's was in a few of the tourist books so we went there...
best honey ice cream, paired with lavender ice cream EVER. (Jaclyne's choice)
I had mint chocolate chip...
The girls picked songs on the juke box and danced their hearts out.
Ella even approached an older man and made him dance.
I was laughing too hard to get photos of it.

Water fountain fun...
As usual, the big sister hangs back shyly while little Ella jumps right in...

Thanks to this bratty girl behind Ella, who took it upon herself to teach my girl to say Go Away,
because she kept telling Ella to go away, Ella now tells everyone she can to go away...

Sapphire Grill

We went to Sapphire Grill for our final dinner in GA...
I chose Carolina rice and asparagus but Ella ate all my rice, fed some to her princesses,
proceeded to eat almost all our dessert and then flash the entire restaurant her boobies.
It was a good night for Ella.

On the phone with her daddy...the smiles couldn't be contained.

Next, comes NC...

A Southern Getaway

2011-05-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

Charleston had me when I saw the rocking chairs in the airport waiting areas.

Right off the bat, things were cozy and inviting; just like I always thought the south would be.

2 adults + 2 babies + 3 monstrous suitcases + 4 large (HEAVY!!) carry-ons +

1 diaper bag + 2 backpacks filled with toys + 1 double stroller = 1 poorly thought out plan

What was I thinking bringing this much stuff?!

Trying to manage all our stuff plus 2 kiddos running in all directions was...draining.

We didn't get any sleep on the plane and honestly,

I wasn't sure how we were going to make it through the day.

We stayed 2 nights in Charleston at the Fulton Lane Inn.

Ironically, our first stop, after settling our things in the hotel room and a quick nap,

was at the Savannah Bee Company. Neither of us thought to wait to visit that store

for when we were actually IN Savannah...

I'd heard of wine tasting, even of olive oil tasting, but never of honey.

I learned at the Savannah Bee Co. that I have a love of honey.

Those plastic bear-shaped things we buy at the supermarket?

I don't know what that is, because it tastes NOTHING like this light, buttery sweetness...

Kate was hooked, she even made me buy a jar to bring home and carried it around with her for 2 days.

Sister Love... I love it!

Ella's first hush puppy...

United States Custom House

How can you expect 2 little girls to not twirl on the top of the steps of a historic building?

The little girls' heaven...

We learned that there are pineapples everywhere in Charleston because it is a symbol of hospitality.

This is the famous Pineapple fountain.

Poor Ella fell into this one unexpectedly.

One of my favorite things about Charleston was the pier.
The sun was just setting and the humidity starting to quiet a little bit...
there are about 10 porch swings on the pier overlooking the water.
So relaxing and peaceful.

My very favorite book EVER is "The Prince of Tides" by Pat Conroy.

This next photo took me there. We were about an hour away from the actual county where the

story in the book took place but when I was sitting on the pier watching over the water, seeing that

bridge, I felt like I was right there. It felt familiar and comforting.

I loved the gas lamps everywhere. So charming.

We had a full two days of walking in 100% humidity, it felt like.
The girls were always sweaty and damp. So were we.

We took a horse-pulled carriage ride around the city.

I LOVED the old houses and all the history behind them.
They were gorgeous old homes. I'd take one of these in a heartbeat.

The tour guide let us taste a local fruit, the loquat.
J thought it would be ok to let Ella eat the seed inside since J's was tiny.
Ella promptly ate the whole loquat and choked on its seed.
Tiny? Really, J?! It's the size of my thumb!!

After a long, hot day we let the girls return to Waterfront Park to REALLY play in the fountain this time.

We are self-proclaimed "foodies"... or maybe you could call us "eaties"...
either way, whatever you want to call us, we love to eat.

Finding the local cuisine and getting a taste of everything
is a huge part of our shared love of traveling.

I think it stems from our first ever trip to New York 10 years ago, when us amateurs

didn't know where else to eat so we ended up eating at Chevy's and TGI Fridays!

The shame!! So, we now have a rule: No chain restaurants on vacation!

Here is where I must interject. Up until recently I've been on a liquids-only diet for the last 4 months.
When I started to eat again after the program ended, I was compelled to become a vegetarian.

Eating my way through the south as a new vegetarian was... interesting, to say the least.
I had more than my fair share of green beans because in some places the only
vegetarian option was 3 side plate of vegetables. Green beans, mac & cheese and french fries.
Isn't quite as exciting as beef brisket and Carolina pulled pork, is it?
But to my surprise, I did it. I remained and still do a vegetarian.

For my fellow eaties, here is the list of restaurants we chose and LOVED in SC.

- FIG

The gnocchi was AMAZING!

Kid friendly and pleasant.

- Magnolia's
Quaint restaurant, I loved my meal and this place will
forever have a special place in my heart cause I don't think
I ever laughed so hard EVER.

Oh, J... this could only happen to you.

- McCrady's
Jaclyne's meal looked amazing. Short ribs and potatoes.
Mine? Was a vegetarian plate left to the chefs discretion.
What can I say? Foam and 40 different kinds of veggies was... not my idea of a tasty meal.

The girls were so good at this place that the manager sent them 4 ice cream cones
as a reward. This was a more upscale restaurant so we were hoping they
would behave themselves and enjoy it... our star travelers exceeded our expectations.

Courtesy of Kate

- Baked
Seriously, best damn whoopie pie I've ever had. EVER.
It was that good.

More to come!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

2011-05-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

It's late night here in the South.

The babies finally fell asleep and after her breathing slowed to a nice rhythm,

I felt safe enough to slowly wiggle myself out from the spoon that Ella was snuggled deeply into.

The time change has messed with us. Big time.

My girls who already have pretty messed up sleep schedules

looked at me like I'd gone mad when I told them it was bed time at 10pm.

It's only really 7pm for us back in L.A.

The flight over here to Charleston was looooong, to say the least.

We bribed them with little chihuahua stuffed animals if they wouldn't scream on the plane.

Complete with backwards shoes.

That's when the smiles stopped.

About an hour into the flight both girls fell asleep.

I thought I was all brilliant, booking a red-eye flight.

I thought we would arrive in SC all bright-eyed and well rested from the great sleep we got on the plane.

That SO didn't happen.

One fell asleep between J and I on the seat and the

other fell asleep comfortably laid across two fold-down tray tables.

I couldn't fall asleep because I was afraid Ella would fall off and Kate kept having bad dreams so she kept crying/screaming and she would kick at Jaclyne until Jaclyne got up out of her seat and stood in the aisle.

This is 2 hours in. Still no sleep.

I was feeling a little delirious.

See the plane right over Texas? That was us.

2 hours to go... I wanted to cry.

After landing in Atlanta, the girls were dressed and happy.

Kate was glad to be on vacation. She loves hotels, my baby.

A quick 35 minute flight later, on which all 4 of us slept, we found ourselves in Charleston.

You know you're in the south when you arrive at the airport and find

wooden rocking chairs in the airport waiting terminals in place of the

uncomfortable vinyl chairs we have in LAX.

The heat hit us the second we stepped out of the airport doors.

It was almost restrictive. Took your breath away, for sure.

Welcome to South Carolina...

Stay tuned for more of our southern adventures.

Or should I say, "Y'all come back now, ya hear!'

Surprisingly, we haven't heard a single southern accent yet. Weird.

Pumpkin the Scarecrow

2011-05-17T04:17:00.000-07:00

What's a garden without a scarecrow?

My mom wanted a scarecrow for her garden.
It was a family affair, everyone pitched in to help.

The kids were excited to be involved and seeing our creation come together was fun.

I had lots of opinions about how wrong my dad and Eric were doing it.

Because I'm the leading expert on scarecrow building.

Or as my dad kindly put it, I graduated from Scarecrow 101.

We used my old clothes. My "fat" clothes.

It was slightly (Ok, extremely) embarrassing to see them stuffing the pants

I used to wear and my dad kept cracking jokes all day about the amount of

stuffing it took to fill my old jeans. All joking aside, I was so glad to be on the

other side of that problem and working towards a much healthier me...

I digress...

The making of Pumpkin. Charlie named him.

First, it was Mushroom. Then he wanted something scarier so he chose Pumpkin.

Scarier? Not so much, but Pumpkin is adorable.

Between all the scarecrow building, we had some time for some nature-watching,

some snuggles and cuddles from Grandpa, and some laughs.

I love this photo of my dad, although it blurry, he looks happy.

I introduce to you, Pumpkin, our very own scarecrow. Isn't he the cutest scarecrow you ever saw?

Little Friends

2011-05-15T02:36:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time wondering what my kids will be like when they are older.

I wonder what they will like. Who they will love. What they'll want to be.

I daydream about 5th grade parties, 1st days of middle school, sweet 16 parties,

high school and college graduations, weddings...

dare I say I even go so far as to wonder about grandbabies?

I know lots of people don't like to go there. They say just relish the present.

Appreciate what you have now.

I do appreciate the NOW... more than I ever have.

But when I am in the moment and I get a glimpse of their personalities shining through,

I can't help but wonder about the future.

I had one of those days recently and what I saw made me smile and warmed my heart.

We had a play date at Disneyland with a friend I've had for about 15 years or so...

She has two girls about the same age as my two girls

and to say that I hope they all 4 become and stay friends

for a really long time is definitely an understatement.

The big girls were proud to get to go on rides sitting by themselves.

I may have all these big dreams and hopes for their futures but trust me when I tell you this...

I cherish EVERY moment I get to spend cuddling with this angel face and looking at the

dimples in her elbows, and memorizing the tiny little fingers that are hers.

I am relishing in the funny, little girl who is so in LOVE with Rapunzel that she watches

the Tangled movie every day and asks for it sometimes 3 times a day.

She will wear her Rapunzel shirt and show it to anyone who will pay attention.

She gives hugs and kisses freely and is really, as I've said since she was born, the sunshine in our home.

I can't believe that her 2nd birthday will be here before I will know it.

I've never not had a baby in my crib. For 6 years, that crib has never been put away.

It makes my heart ache that I will not need it for Ella anymore.

Ella may not need her crib right now, but we have an ADORABLE niece who happens to love it.

We babysat Ben and Isabelle the other day and when I turned to check on the older kids,
Ella just decided to hop right in there with her baby cousin.

I've definitely gotta keep on eye on that little Ella. She's my free-spirited, adventurous one.

I think it's okay to dream about what might come, as long as you throw in a

good mix of cherishing what you have now in there.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Little Blog...

2011-05-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

You've made me sit down and reflect upon my life in a way I haven't been able to before.

You've forced me to recall and see beauty in the most simple aspects of my days.

You've documented the lives of the most precious things in my life.

Happy birthday, sweet little blog.

I'm glad you're here and I'm glad to have started you.

A few things I love lately...

It's Spring and I'm all about the fresh flowers.

We have some travel and a family wedding coming up that we're REALLY looking forward to.

I can't wait to see wonderful, old friends and family

and spend some quality time with my girls.

Lots of good things coming, my friends...

Have a fabulous weekend.

PS... you can access this site now at www.LaflecheMasse.com

the old address still works too though.

Sowing the Seeds of Love

2011-05-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

I love when my kids get to spend quality time with my parents.

I love even more when they get to spend time in their big back yard,

running themselves tired and rolling in the dirt.

I love that they got to help my mom plant her dream garden and that they will

forever have this memory of sitting on the bobcat with my dad and of gardening with my mom.

I hope they will inherit my mom's love of nature.

My parents graciously took care of my babies today for me while I worked.

They got dirty...really, really dirty.

The garden is lovely and I CAN'T wait until it starts producing veggies and the kids

can actually see what they helped to create.

** ALL photos courtesy of my momma...**

Thanks Ma & Pa for loving my babies so much.

I beyond thrilled that you're creating such a great relationship with them.

I love you both very much.

Sweet Basil

2011-05-06T00:50:00.000-07:00

From dirt and seeds, I grew these.

It's always amazing to me, how nature works.

...and with this beautiful, sweet basil, I made this.

It smelled divine and the fact that it was made with our very own basil made it even better.

Once we have enough, we're totally making this.

Basil Pesto

Above image is from Jessica Seinfeld's Do It Delicious Blog.

LOOOOVE her blog. Such great ideas for the kids.

All of this for the love of these three beautiful hearts.

Happy Friday... may today find you smiling and happy.

Fly a Kite

2011-05-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

It was such a beautiful evening. The sun was out but there was a cool breeze that

kept whispering "summer" into our ears. The kids were full of energy.
Charlie saw a kite in the sky on the way home from school and wanted to fly his own.

I knew I had a kite tucked away somewhere in the disaster that is our garage
so I had Eric dig it out and off to the park we went.

I can't even tell you how funny it was to be sitting there with J watching the little scene above and t
hen see Eric running through the park like a madman when Kate let go of the string and
the kite took off all on its own. I laughed so hard my sides hurt and
I couldn't even pick up the camera to take a photo of it.
Really, it was like a cartoon.

Ella was fascinated by the whole thing.

Spring feels really good right now.

Wine & Happiness

2011-05-03T19:31:00.000-07:00

Every day we do what we have to do. We get up, feed the babies, make lunches,

find lost shoes, lick our fingers to smooth down stray cowlicks, breakfasts, snacks, diaper changes,

read books, do laundry, pay bills, dance class, play dates, baths, blog, homework, cuddles, discipline...

and that's just on Monday. I'm breathless just listing it all.

Amidst the every day craziness, amidst the millions of things that run through my head,

amidst the to-do lists, there is always a need for some time away. To recharge, reconnect and recuperate.

It makes us better at what we do: try to raise good, kind, smart people.

When the opportunity arose for Eric & me to go celebrate my little sister's 30th birthday in Temecula

with most of my family and some old friends, we were so excited to go.
We haven't had the chance to go on a trip, just us, without kids, for a little while.

Jaclyne graciously took the babies so I didn't even need to think twice about

whether or not they'd be well-taken care of. She loves them like they're hers.

I love vineyards. I love the rows of grapevines, the hills, the jazz bands,

the happiness that exudes from everyone
(probably because they're all a bit tipsy)
...swishing the wine around your glass, feeling like you're an old pro because you know about the
"legs" that signify a full-bodied wine, letting it wet your lips a little, and then the burst of flavor.

I love the quaint towns in wine countries. They house antique stores and soap shops. They're home to

wooden sidewalks and 80 year old breakfast joints that serve short stacks and kick ass chili omelet.

I love it all.

It certainly isn't Napa, but I'll take a little weekend trip here, any time.

What I love the most though, is coming home to my sweet babies who run

as fast as their little legs can carry them when they see me and throw themselves into

my arms and then squish their beautiful faces into my neck. The whispers of mommy into my

ear makes going away worth it, if only for the overwhelming welcome when you return.

Since my return, I get a lovely reminder of our trip every time I wash my hands at the kitchen sink.

Lemon-lavender soap. Heaven.

Oh Snap.

2011-05-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

It starts with this.

and then...

Oh snap.
and this was all at 7am. My favorite time of the day.
(Note the stroooong sarcasm)

I laid her down and gave her a bottle but when I jumped in my bed and got settled in all comfy,
I turn around and little Miss Sweet Face was staring back at me, all proud of herself.

Looks like Ella needs a new bed.

30 is Sweet

2011-04-30T02:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots from the 30th birthday party that we threw for my sister, Keeny.

If you know her at all, you would know that a "Dirty 30" party would be very fitting.

But we planned this at the last minute and for some strange reason,

J came up with the theme, 30 is sweet...

So, I took the sweet and ran with it.

Baked 50 each of 5 different flavored cupcakes.

Cadbury Egg-filled Chocolate

Peanut Butter & Jelly

Strawberry Cream

Lemon Blueberry

Salted Caramel

I was supposed to blog this a month ago, but better late than never, right?

Love you, Keeny...

My Fancy Girl

2011-04-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

My girl on her way to her first big girl party without me.

Fancy Nancy was the theme so what else could I do but

fancy her up a bit? It's not like this was a far stretch for Kate,

who lives her everyday as a real-life Fancy Nancy.

Magic

2011-04-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

“Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice.”
Unknown

Yep, another day in paradise...er, uh, Disneyland, I mean.

Charlie's proud of his new hat.
He makes you press the red button for a surprise... he's funny, my little guy.

I've never really had a kid be afraid of the characters like Miss Ella is.
She was trying to give me her best smile but was too preoccupied worrying about
whether Pluto would make another appearance sending her running for the stroller.

and then there's the fierce Kate. No fear, this one. All about the dramatic flair and big smiles.

When you've been somewhere like Disneyland over 100 times, it's a challenge to

keep the kids believing in the magic of it all. We try to find new things for them

to do and explore so they always love it and want to keep coming back.

“This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more,

to whosoever will think of it.”

Thomas Dekker

Tonight, we found magic in the unexpected and I, for one, LOVED it.

The magic was right there, on the roof of my car, in a hotel parking lot on the way home.

Blurry but perfect...

“That's the thing with magic. You've got to know it's still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.”

Charles de Lint

I hope you find a bit of magic in your lives today, friends...

Enjoying the Zoo

2011-04-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

It was a hot day, but a beautiful one.

The kids are on Spring Break and we were trying to make it fun

and special for them and so a day at the zoo was in order.

It's a rare day where there is minimal whining and they all pretty much get along.

It was, surprisingly, a really enjoyable day.

Here's our day at the zoo in photos...

Some of the animal favorites...

Of course there were a few moments of meltdown. You can expect that with Kate.

Isn't my niece, Isabelle, a beauty? Love her cheeks. I could kiss them all day.

Don't you just love my little hippie chick Kate and her peace

sign fingers in every photo that I allow it to be in?

She learned this move from her fellow hippie friend Cameron and uses it all the time now.

A Night Out with my Boys

2011-04-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

I often do things with the girls.

If Charlie is given the choice, he will choose to stay with Eric 99% of the time.

That bothers me but there is always an ebb and flow when it comes to who prefers who at any

given time. For a long time, he only wanted me and I remember how frustrating that could get.

I have to remind myself that it's natural for each kid to have a different preference and that

those preferences can change at the drop of a hat. With that said, I end up doing a lot of

activities with the girls because Charlie doesn't want to do "girl" stuff with me.

But tonight, to my delight, he chose me over staying home to play with Eric.

He wanted to do something with me and his cousins.

We decided burgers and shakes would be fun and he'd never been to Bob's Big Boy

so that's where we went with the boys. No girls were allowed. Not even poor little Ella...lol.

It's a whole different dynamic, being with boys.

It's all about grossness, loudness, throwing french fries, cars, and eating contests.

Mixing ranch and ketchup, putting salt in each other's shake, and to my dismay, a few burps and farts.

We used to go to Bob's all the time when I was a kid. My grandfather brought us and my dad too, after

church on Sundays. I used to love to climb on the jolly little chubby guy outside the restaurant.

Here's where the gross factor falls into place. There were dares and incentives to Charlie eating a

little concoction that Richie came up with. Thanks god, in the end, Charlie said his stomach

hurt too much at the thought of eating it and the promised Lego's weren't enough to sway him.

and then came the giggles, where Richie laughed himself into a coughing fit that made him cry.

Very funny, and very nice to hear them laughing and enjoying themselves.

I love spending time with my little guys and getting to know them better. We were only missing little Mark.

It's nice to be wanted sometimes, even if it's by a bunch of boys

doing what boys love to do...be gross.

Childhood

2011-04-21T21:13:00.000-07:00

What better part of childhood is there than playing in your grandma and grandpa's backyard

at dusk with all your cousins while the mamas and aunts have coffee under the big willow tree

and the guys yell at the hockey game in the living room on a random Wednesday night?

Not much, I tell you. Not much.

Happy Thursday friends... THE WEEKEND'S COMING!